Fable: The Return Chapter 27
The King of Albion enters into the Ice Pack of the north. Chapter 27 The winds of the world are changing. The king has tried to fight the feelings that nag his brain but he can no longer fight them off. He can smell the smoke, he can hear their screams, he can feel their pain. Albion has changed, and their king is on a ship in the middle of nowhere on a voyage for the top of nowhere. How long has it been, a week? A week since he released those monsters, or has it been longer? How long of the fires burned in Albion, and how far have they spread? The king can only imagine what has become of his people. He sees them bowing to demons who control their minds, he sees them displayed for the world to see in vast arrays of torture, he sees them burn as he did when Theresa showed him what they did to Bowerstone. Too long has he been away from his people, too long has the Court been given free reign of the world. Each hour the cold winds grow closer, their chill already reaching the Drakemouth. It is the third day at sea, and the king has awoken to a light cover of snow on the deck. He dresses in his Reaver-supplied royal crimson garments and exits his quarters out onto the deck. Snow, he remembers it fondly from his days of adventuring with Walter. He remembers the satisfying crunch it gives when you step on it, and the beauty it makes by covering the world in white. Slowly, he walks to the front of the ship and leans forward on the bannister, looking out to the sea. He sees the snow falling softly into the water and onto his hands. His sight only stretches so far in the downfall of snow, the air in front of his gaze is grey. Henry soon joins him at the bannister, carrying a large White Balverine pelt with him. "I brought this for you, it's about to get cold." The king accepts it and throws it on his shoulders. "It's already cold." "Yes, but we're about to reach the ice pack. And from there the voyage will not be as pleasant as it has been." The king laughs, "You call this pleasant?" "Compared to what you're about to be feeling? Yes. The ice pack is not an enjoyable place. There was a time where you could sail it freely without any fear of danger. But times have changed, the ice has grown colder than it has ever been. Of course there is always the fear of krakens attacking from beneath the ice, but there is something else since you stopped adventuring. See, when the rebels of the world realized the king was done with leaving his castle, they saw an open world. Bands of pirates now roam these waters, sailing in ships built from the Whitewood Forests of the North." "Are you saying we may be attacked by all manner of things while trying to traverse the ice pack?" "Aye…and there she is." Henry points forward towards the sea. Quickly approaching from beyond the veil of the falling snow is a white blanket covering the sea. The ice pack of the North, an entity that was born from the mages of Snowspire Village after the triumph of the Hero of Oakvale. Once the world was reminded that the North existed, the powerful mages of Snowspire banded together to create a defense against the inevitable future. The North would not be able to handle attacks from pirates or bandits, and could not maintain a burst of tourism if it were to arrive. The Guild of Heroes and the mages of Snowspire made an agreement and created a giant sheet of ice that stretched for miles from the shores of the Northern Wastes. It was imbued with massive amounts of Will that make the area dominated by the ice unnaturally cold. As minutes flew by, the ship moved closer and closer to the oncoming ice. Members of the crew begin to flood the deck, awaiting the ships impact with the defenses of the North. Henry departs when the ice grows incredibly close as to take the helm of the ship. The king starts to here the men murmur, and soon they shuffle around the deck. Suddenly, he hears Henry shout to the crew. "Brace yourself lads!" Everyone grabs something within their reach, bannisters, barrels, cannons, ropes, some even clung to the masts. The king stood his ground, waiting for the moment of impact. Suddenly, the king felt the Drakemouth smash against what seemed like a glass wall. He heard the breaking of ice as the ship cut through the very beginning of the ice pack. The king stumbles forward and grabs the bannister in front of him, giving him the perfect chance to see the ship pushing through the ice, shoving separate sheets aside. As if summoned by the crack of the ice, Reaver burst out of his quarters wearing a crimson dyed balverine pelt. He strolls excitedly to the helm of the ship and joins Henry. "My dear boys! Welcome to the North! Goodness, it's cold out here…remind me to do something about this chill when we're done. There will be factories every half a mile sticking out of the sea. They'll spew fire and smoke and make this all the more comfortable and joyous to explore. I can't create a line of tourism ships to go around the world if it's so bloody cold." Reaver looks to the king, "Ah, your majesty! Always a pleasure to see you in the royal-red, it's the future, I keep telling you!" He pulls out his cane and makes his way down to the front of the ship to stand with the king. "How do you like it, the cold embraces of the North? Is it just as glorious as you anticipated?" "It's very cold," The king replies. "Not to worry, you can rest your chilly bum by the fire in the lower decks. We're about to fire up the steam engines to help get us through this ghastly ice." Just as Reaver says this, a roar erupts from within the Drakemouth. Steam billows out of the smokestacks at the back of the ship. "There's the heat now, let's get some black smoke into the air and warm this abysmal place! Oh and your majesty? I suggest you find some cover." Reaver leaves his side and strolls about the deck. "What?" The king is very confused at Reaver's statement. What would he need cover for? He leaves the bannister and wanders around, watching as several members of the crew prepare the ship for combat. What is going on here? "Henry?!" He shouts to his son who is manning the helm. "What is it father?" "Why is everyone getting ready for a fight?" Henry simply laughs at the question, and soon enough his question is answered. A cannonball launches over the bannisters on the side of the ship and rams into a member of the crew, flinging him overboard with an audible crack. "Here we go boys!" Henry shouts from the helm. Reaver's pirate crew explodes into action, packing cannonballs into cannons, loading rifles and pistols, and adding extra armor onto their furs. The king looks into the grey skies ahead of them and sees a pure white ship loom into view. He draws his sword and crouches, ready for an attack if it comes to him. The crew points all of their weapons…away from the ship. What? The white vessel moves closer and closer to the Drakemouth, and its crew comes into view from behind the veil of snow. They have all of their weapons pointed at the Drakemouth, prepared to unleash an onslaught of bullets and cannon fire. Members of the opposing crew start to move around and one larger man shouts. "Is that Reaver up there in the nest?!" Indeed, Reaver has moved himself up to the crow's nest and is resting one side of his body on the edge, pistol in hand. "We know about you, fancy man. We heard 'bout yer stories! Killin' captains in a single shot n' takin' crews fer yourself! Well ye ain't be killin' me! Ain't be takin' my ship!" The king hears Reaver's voice from high above, "Oh but I don't want you ship. In fact I don't need any of you. See, I have places to be and I can't dilly dally with a band of frost pirates hiding away in the ice. My ship is fine to me, I don't think I need a white one. Oh, and before I kill you, I just wanted to tell you that I can't understand a bloody word you're saying! If you learned some form of proper tongues I may have spared you." Reaver takes a moment to think. "No, actually no. I wouldn't have, killing is just so fun!" "Ye can't kill me! And e'en if ye do, ye'll die when me crew fires!" "Oh shut up!" Reaver fires onto the white ship and the bullet strikes a large barrel of gunpowder that was resting on the deck. The barrel explodes and spreads fire to all of the barrels of both powder and beer that littered the ship. In almost an instant, the ship is up in flames and sinks beneath the ice. Reaver climbs down from the crow's nest and his crew cheers. For the first time, the king has seen the stories of Reaver's skill at sea become a reality. All if the stories of the great Hero of Skill now rush back into his memory. He remembers the stories of the pirate who could bring down a civilization with just one shot. Once more in his long life, the king is reminded of how dangerous Reaver can truly be. As the crew turns away from Reaver and go back to work, the ice around them shudders. What is it this time? A foreboding feeling overcomes the king, to the point of it being unnatural. The sea beneath them lurches, a familiar feeling to the king's stomach. Oh no…Tentacles suddenly burst from beneath the ice. Giant, green tentacles with monstrous suction cups surround the ship. And a noise erupts from under the ship, a growl that could send normal men to tears, the growl of an angry kraken that has just had a sunken ship fall on its head. Reaver turns to see the tentacles rising from the sea and raises his pistol. "Well, this should be fun."